Rufous hare-wallaby

Lagorchestes hirsutus

Blamed on cats

IUCN status: Vulnerable

EPBC Threat Rating: Moderate

IUCN claim: “On the mainland, predation by introduced feral Cat and Red Foxes was the major cause of extinction in the wild”

Studies in support

Cats were the main predator of reintroduced, predator-inexperienced, hare-wallabies in two locations (Gibson et al. 1994; Hardman & Moro 2006; Hardman et al. 2016). Cats can hunt locally-born wallabies (Paltridge et al. 1997). Hare-wallabies were last confirmed in south-west Australia 58 years after foxes arrived (Current submission).

Studies not in support

Lundie-Jenkins et al. (1993) found no spatial correlation one year, and a positive correlation another year, between cats and hare-wallabies. Cats breached the enclosures of two semi-captive hare-wallaby colonies, none were hunted in 5-8 weeks (from Moseby et al. 2015). Hare-wallabies were last confirmed in the Tanami Desert 106 years after cats arrived (Current submission).

Is the threat claim evidence-based?

There are no studies evidencing a negative association between cats and rufous hare-wallaby population. The fate of reintroduced animals is not a reliable proxy for the fate of populations. In contradiction with the claim, the two species co-occurred for over half-a-century in one locale and for over a century in another.

Evidence linking Lagorchestes hirsutus to cats. A. Systematic review of evidence for an association between Lagorchestes hirsutus and cats. Positive studies are in support of the hypothesis that cats contribute to the decline of Lagorchestes hirsutus, negative studies are not in support. Predation studies include studies documenting hunting or scavenging; baiting studies are associations between poison baiting and threatened mammal abundance where information on predator abundance is not provided; population studies are associations between threatened mammal and predator abundance. B. Last records of extirpated populations relative to earliest local records of cats. Error bars show record uncertainty range. Predator arrival records were digitized from Abbott 2008.

References

Abbott, The spread of the cat, Felis catus, in Australia: re-examination of the current conceptual model with additional information. Conservation Science Western Australia 7 (2008).

Current submission (2023) Scant evidence that introduced predators cause extinctions. Conservation Biology

EPBC. (2015) Threat Abatement Plan for Predation by Feral Cats. Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, Department of Environment, Government of Australia. (Table A1).

Gibson, D.F., Lundie-Jenkins, G., Langford, D.G., Cole, J.R. and Johnson, K.A., 1994. Predation by feral cats, Felis catus, on the rufous hare-wallaby, Lagorchestes hirsutus, in the Tanami Desert. Australian Mammalogy, 17(1), pp.103-107.

Hardman, B. and Moro, D., 2006. Optimising reintroduction success by delayed dispersal: is the release protocol important for hare-wallabies?. Biological Conservation, 128(3), pp.403-411.

Hardman, B., Moro, D. and Calver, M., 2016. Direct evidence implicates feral cat predation as the primary cause of failure of a mammal reintroduction programme. Ecological Management & Restoration, 17(2), pp.152-158.

Lundie-Jenkins, G., Corbett, L.K., Phillips, C.M. 1993. Ecology of the rufous hare-wallaby, Lagorchestes hirsutus Gould (Marsupialia : Macropodidae) in the Tanami Desert, Northern Territory. III Interactions with introduced mammal species. Wildlife Research, 20(4), pp 495-511.

Moseby, K.E., Peacock, D.E. and Read, J.L., 2015. Catastrophic cat predation: a call for predator profiling in wildlife protection programs. Biological Conservation, 191, pp.331-340.

Paltridge, R., Gibson, D. and Edwards, G., 1997. Diet of the feral cat (Felis catus) in central Australia. Wildlife Research, 24(1), pp.67-76.